Digestive Disorders

Hi, thanks for all your replies. My dad has a thyroid disorder, so I will get that checked out. In answer to your questions, I get very heavy and painful periods. Yeas I am anemic, have a low folic acid level and low vitamin B12 level in my last 3 blood tests. No I’m not a parent yet (my partner and I would love to try but thought it best to wait till my stomach was better, especially as I have a low folic acid level and he is concerned about his health – see recent posting on his behalf). I tend to eat little and often mainly consisting of bland food (chicken, rice, vegetables…) I don’t chew gum and never really have. I don’t drink alcohol at all but I do smoke (10-12 a day). I suppose in a way I have pushed myself hard. I finished my A’ levels in 2000 (biology, chemistry, psychology and law) decided to wait to go to university and started work but I have been signed off for the last 5 weeks for the above problem.I take medication; Zantac 75mg 3 times a day, Donperidone 10mg 3 times a day, Folic acid 5mg each day and about 11 months ago I was told to take the contraceptive pill but taking it for 3 months, having a period and repeating, this seemed to help.I recently got a second opinion from an American internet doctor. He suggested Endometriosis, Bowl cancer, adhesions after my appendix was removed and even a swelling on my brain causing me to feel sick! Is this all true? He said he could provide more information for a further fee. Am I just being scammed?

You sound very anxious and, I sense, a bit depressed (not surprisingly with all that going on). It sounds as though you have been properly and fully investigated by your doctors (endoscopy (which I'm assuming was an upper GI endoscopy) excludes oesophageal, gastric and upper intestinal disease, whilst the blood tests exclude other important conditions).

In the absence of a positive diagnosis, and many negative findings (for conditions that manifest in your age group Crohn's, Coeliac Disease), I suspect that most of these symptoms are related to stress and depression.

The lump in your throat is "globus hystericus" and is a cardinal feature of anxiety. Your abdominal pains sound like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) which is a common manifestation of psychological distress. I'm betting you probably have had anxiety attacks before now too. This is affecting your appetite and making you lose weight. People with depression often complain of low energy and either inability to sleep (insomnia) or too much sleep (hypersomnia).

Many people slip into a vicious cycle of stress and depression -> symptoms -> more stress -> medical investigations -> negative findings -> more stress... and so on. They go on being investigated ad infinitum without anything ever being found to be amiss.

I am not in any way dismissing your symptoms; that you feel unwell is not under debate. But I am questioning why you feel unwell. I suspect that there may be a depressive element to this which, incidentally can make periods worse too. you have had a lot of things go wrong in the last few years - ill health (x2), a car crash, and now this. These a potent triggers that can get people down. Pent-up stress finds numerous routes out of the body including adbominal pains, shaking muscles and hands, numbness and tingling in the fingers etc.

Please don't waste any more precious money on American internet quacks and don't rush to the doctor for a tyroid test just yet. It is not possible nor safe to make a diagnosis over the internet. The doctor needs to see his patient to pick up things like low mood (which you yourself may not even notice or think to mention).

I would strongly suggest that you ask yourself if you really honestly feel happy. When did you last go out and can honestly say you enjoyed yourself ? Have you lost touch with friends and family lately ? Has your appetite changed, have you lost interest in doing things you used to enjoy ?

If you are answering 'yes' to these questions I think you should perhaps ask your doctor whether you might be depressed ?

Chris

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception" - Groucho Marx

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I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception - Groucho Marx

I guess I am anxious but I don’t know about depressed, maybe a bit but only since I have been feeling ill.

As for the blood tests the only thing brought up in them was the low folic acid and vitamin B12. Even by taking the tablets they are not rising.

I have never had anxiety attacks and my appetite is fine. I am always hungry but feel so ill from eating I guess I am not eating as much as I did which, like you said is responsible for my weight loss.

I would say I am very happy apart from feeling ill I have a very good life. Lovely fiancée, nice house a job I really enjoy. I did have hobbies. I was a trampolining coach but now throw up after 5 minutes on a trampoline. I still play ice hockey when I feel ok. We would love to think about having a child next but with my folic acid level as low as it is I guess it would be a silly thing to do now.

I just want to go back to normal. I went back to work last week even though I was still signed off sick but found I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open by lunch time.

I have exotic pets (Royal Pythons, Corn snakes and Geckos) they are rescued and I rehabilitate them. I have had them all checked for exotic diseases.

My doctor has moved my next appointment with the gastro doctor at the hospital forward (its tomorrow), I will let you know how it goes.

I hope that you get it sorted out soon. If your problem is that you are not absorbing food properly, then nor will you absorb pills, which is why taking tablets for low B12 and Folate will not help. It will also account for your anaemia (possibly compounded by low iron). However, as you have a history of heavy periods, that too could play a role. Anaemia will make you feel lethargic and tired, but bear in mind that some anti-emetics (anti-sickness tablets) can also send you to sleep.

However, I am reassured by the negative test for Coeliac Disease, which would be the first thing to consider, given your history, and the negative endoscopy.

Chris

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception" - Groucho Marx

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I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception - Groucho Marx

Definitely don't get pregnant until you get the folic acid levels up. Don't want neural tube defects if you can avoid it. Endometriosis is worth exploring too, but doesn't explain the lump in the throat or the weight loss.

Chris, what about pernicious anemia? Could that cause the symptoms? I know it can sometimes cause thyroid problems.

A good thought Bezoar, and you are right that pernicious anaemia is an autoimmune disease alongside some thyroid disorders. However, vitamin B12 is absorbed by coupling it with a special factor - called intrinsic factor - which is secreted from the stomach - and then picking up the complex at the very end of the small intestine. In patients with pernicious anaemia the immune system stops the stomach from producing intrinsic factor, so the vitamin B12 cannot be absorbed.

However, the same is not true of folate, which is absorbed higher up the small bowel. Sprite has a deficiency of both, rather than just an isolated B12 deficiency which I'd expect in pernicious anaemia.

Chris

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception" - Groucho Marx

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I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception - Groucho Marx

Recently a doctor told me that eating steadily throughout the day saps your energy because the body is busy digesting all the time. Any truth to this?

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"If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do." Mahatma Gandhi